The Tech Report: Find out who will win the Super Bowl (According to a video game)

I have some fond memories of playing Electronic Arts’ yearly NFL game Madden. My brother and I used to play it all the time, we played it so much that no one was allowed to use the team based off of the 1985 Chicago Bears, Walter Payton (or the nameless #34 that he was in the game) was so good that you could score a touchdown every time down the field. My brother is a very athletic person, I’m a kind of athletic person, and he played football at a high level but when it came to Madden we were equals (although I think I still lost more than I won). Madden is a fantastic game, but let’s be real, it’s just a video game. The fact that I can make a character named T.J. Brooks (my video game alter ego) and he can win the MVP in his rookie year is a testament to how unrealistic these things are. However, for the last 12 years EA Sports has used Madden to predict the NFL champion, and 9 of those 12 times the game has been right.

It gets even crazier when we look at last years Super Bowl. It accurately predicted the New England Patriots would win and that Tom Brady would be the MVP.

But wait, there’s more.

The game also predicted Tom Brady would throw for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns, he actually threw for 328 yards and 4 touchdowns. ONLY 7 YARDS DIFFERENCE!

Madden also said that Julian Edelman would catch the game winning touchdown (they were right!) and that he would have 8 catches for 106 yards, he actually had 9 catches for 109 yards. AMAZING!

While this may seem like a fluke, it does point to how accurate the information and engines are in sports games these days, and how far they’ve come from Tecmo Bowl….